Adoptive mother arrested for torture, beating of children

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested a Palmdale woman on suspicion of torture and cruelty to children.

Palmdale resident Ingrid Brewer reported to the sheriff's department that her two adoptive children were missing on January 15. Deputies searching for the children, an 8-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, found them lying near a parked vehicle on a street near their residence hiding under a blanket. The children were not wearing warm clothing despite temperatures in the mid-20s.

The two children told deputies they ran away from Brewer because they were tired of being tied up and beaten by her. They told deputies that Brewer locked them up in separate bedrooms when she went to work every day, and that on numerous occasions she tied their wrists with zip-ties and beat them, sometimes with an electrical cord or a hammer. They were also reportedly deprived of food.

Both kids had injuries consistent with their descriptions of abuse, including wrist marks indicating zip-tie restraint.

"[Brewer] made statements to detectives that one of the reasons that she was locking them in their rooms was because they were stealing food," said Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hudson. "It was quite obvious the children probably were getting into the refrigerator or the cabinets to get food because they weren't being fed."

Brewer was arrested on January 16. She has been charged with eight felony counts including torture, assault with a deadly weapon and cruelty to a child. She was held on $2 million bond.